Apparatus for bending pipes, rods, &amp;c.



J. A. MILLER.

APPARATUS FOR BENDING PIPES, RODS, dw. APPLIGATIQN FILED SEPT. a, 1909.

1,105,914. Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

4 SHEBTS*SHEET1.

Illlllllllillm 'IHE NORIS PH'I ERS C0. PHOTO'LITHO., WASHINGTON. Dv C.

J. A. MILLER.

APPARATUS FOR BENDING PIPBS, RODS, dw. APPLxoATIoN FILED snm?. a, 1909.

1,195,914, Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

4 EHEETS-SHEET Z.

THE NORRIS PETERS ("U, PHOTO-LITHCL, MASINGTUN. D.

J. A. MILLER. APPARATUS FOR BENDING PIPES, RODS, dw. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a, 1909.

1,1 05,914. Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SIIBET 3.

IHb' NORRIS PETERS C0.4 PHOTOLITHO.. WASHINGTON. D4 C4 J. A. MILLER.

APPARATUS POR BENDING PIPES, RODS, dm.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a, 1009.

1,105,914. Patented Aug.4,1914

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

THEV NORRIS PETERS CQ, PHOTOJJ'FHO., WASHINGTON, D C

. kthe rackl and movable lever.

through the ends of the channel beams 9 is a shaft having yits axis radial to the pivotal point of the frame and carrying a gear 2l.

` at its outer end, which is secured thereto by any suitable means which permit it to be readily removed therefrom, as nut h2. Said gear intermeshes with an intermediate'gear 22 supported upon a brackety 28 removably secured to the frame, and intermeshes-withv space between the channel beams of the` track is a sprocket wheel .24, and a similar sprocketwheel 25 is mounted `between the rails on a shaft 26 at the opposite end of the track.. A sprocket chain 27, is arranged over the sprocket wheel with its ends fas` tened to the lower part of a tubular thrust carriage 28 which is mounted upon the track by means of antifriction rolls 29 pivoted to itssides as shown, and adapted to track upon the upper sides of the upper flange of the channel beams 9. Anti-friction rolls 30' are alsok arranged to .track upon the lower sides of'said -flangesy to hold the car'- riage upon the track. 'The rotation of the shaft 2O by revolving` the sprocket chain 27 carries'the tubular carriage 28 along the track in kconjunction with therevolution of The motive power for drivingthe'machine may be 4ap-` y plied to the shaft 20, at any point throughout its length and ina-y be arranged in any suitable manner, not requiring here to bel shown, or further described. lf desired, the thrustl carriageinthe case ofvery heavy work may be driven or pushed directly by hydraulic pressure -or by hydraulic power orv other force applied by any well known method and the movable lever operated by such motive power through the sprocket chain", sprocket wheels, shaft and gearing hereinbefore described. lt will be understood that in connection withsaid gearing whatever method is employed to move either the thrust carriage or the movable lever mea-nsfor driving the parts or point of application thereto. The objects of the intermediate gear 22 between thegear 2l and the rack, are, to attain the required direction of motion'of the rack, that is, to cause it to move in the same direction as ythe thrust carriage, and to enable the yspeed of the movable lever relatively to that of the thrust carriage in accordance with the distance of they rail. track from the centeryto be changed as required, byl placing a larger or smaller gear on the shaft 20, and correspondingly proportioning and placing vthe intermediate gear toy intermeshwith the driving gear and v.shaft 2O requires to be of twice the diameter lof the sprocket gear wheel.y

rl`he tubular carriage forms an abutment for a thrustv collar 3l" which bears 'against the forward end 'thereof also fitting within ln the drawings the posi-v` it to centraline and hold the collar in place.

The collar is adapted to correspondingly lit within orl hold and thrust against the soV pipe ortube 32 to bebent, which is thus mounted above the 'track and'sup'portedat that end by the carriage. The other end of the tube is supported andcarried byva chuck or clamp 33 mounted upon thev movable lever l?, which has a 'l' slot 7a3 extend ing tln-oughoutits entire length by means of whichl the chuckmay be bolted `down at any point thereon, similarly as the carriage `track may be adjusted on the frame at any distance from thec'enter, for the purpose of bending' the pipe to any desiredradius. The chuck,r `or clamp is of aconstruction suitable for holding` the end of the pipe and is here shown to bey composed of two half bearings'hinged together by av pin 7L, the lower part being clamped to the lever bolts il, i2 on said Tslot, and the upper Y half clamped to the lower `by a lever nut Bt and a swing bolt 35 which maybe piv- -otedin the lower half and adapted to be swung out of or into a suitable slot 36 in the flange 37 of thehearing to readily disengage the part-s. Rolls 3S, 39 are mounted on the frame on the radial line which is at right angles to the carriagetrack 9,y

there function being to guide thepipe and hold it in position at the point at which it is to be bent, also,V when desired, a roll 40 maybe placed in contact with the pipe somewhat 'back from theroll'39 Lto resist any tendency of the pipe to buckle back of the point. bending, .through pressure. When desired, a curved former-41 may be arranged to assist in the operation'ofbending, although the machine is adapted to bend pipe without the use ofa form. ln such case the fornifcouldbe fastened in place by means of the inner bolt i2 of the chuck 33 and the roll 88 would be set .Correspondingly away from the pipe; and adjusted to bear. upon the form as shown in Fig. l. lt will be-understood that the guide roll 38 may be setfto'contact with the pipe the same as lthe opposite roll 39 when the former lis not used. Y

Constructed as above described and shown,

the operation of -iny improved bending mechanism as far as described is as follows; takisc ing the case of pipe, forlillustration: The

pipe beingplaeed over the carriage track with one end clamped in the chuck of the movable lever and the other receivedland held upon the carriage,v `the movement of the carriage in conjunction with that of the lever by rotation of the shaft 20, or any other means of applying power, will carry the pipe along over the fixed frame, and carry it between the rolls 38, 39 and e0. it the point` where the pipe leaves the frame and the said perpendicular rolls `as the movable lever swings on its pivot the pipe will be bent on the radius of the arc described by the clamp or radius between said clamp and the pivotal center `of the lever without the use of a form for determining `the curvature. The curvature of the pipe will be alone insured by the combined action of the movable lever and the carriage. 'lfhiseitect will readily be understood when it is considered that if the pipe `were merely drawn ahead by the means of the movable lever ,such action would tend to pull the pipe into a straight line between the holding clamp and the guide rolls while if the pipe were to be pushed atY its rear end and resisted at `its forward end it would tend to buckle between the clamp and the roll, therefore if these two forces are proportioned substantially equal one will counteract the other and curvature will be produced in the pipe corresponding to the are having the pivotal center of the lever and the center of the pipe for a radius. After the pipe is bent to the extent the scope of the machine permits, if a greater bend is` required, the lever may be returned to its original or initial position and a new grip taken upon the pipe by the clamp, and the; operation successively repeated, to the production of a complete circle, or coil of a number of convolutions, as hereinbefore described. The aforesaid operation relates to bendingpipe inits cold state, but does not differ from that of bendingit hot, except that in the latter instance, mechanism is provided for automatically cooling `the pipe asfast as bent, which is described as follows, reference being had to Figs. l and 10 of the drawings.`

Just beyond the guiding rolls, 38, 39, l0 two y sections of pipe AD, D are arranged in the plane of the diametrical cross section thereof, each extending nearly halt way around the pipe to be bent and together comprising `a girdle encircling the pipe as shown. These bending as desired by proper` adjustment of the sections D, D. The sections of the girdle may be attached to the machine or to l a standard R rising from the floor. They may also be hung from over head, preferably convenient to the operator, who has generally to occupy a position on a platform directly over the work at a sufficient distance above it to es 'ape the heat. It willbe seen that by cooling the `heated pipe immediately ahead of the point or cross plane of flexure, all that portion of the pipe between the holding clamp becomes a rigid part or arm of the lever, and serves to transmit the strain to 'the point of bending, whereas, if it were not so cooled, its ductility would permit it to straighten out under the pull of the lever necessitating much more frequent ticeting back for a renewed grip upon the pipe or the use of a bending form. By the use of the cooling mechanism it will be possible to construct quarter turn bends and in some cases bends of still greater extent at a single operation, or without fleeting the lever back for another grip. The action of returning the lever to the initial point without corresponding `backward movement of the thrust carriage may be accomplished by the temporary removal of the intermediate gear 22 or other part of the connecting` gearing,but suitable clutchingy mechanism may be substituted for `such less elabo ate `method when the work is such as to warrant it. And in such event the clamp for holding the pipe may be armed with jaws corresponding to the curvature of the pipe suitable for gripping upon it after the first or initial setting,before which the pipe is entirely straight and not adapted for being gripped by curved clamping jaws.

In pipebending mechanism it is advantageous and in some cases highly important and absolutely uecessaryto provide means for counter-acting the tendency of the pipe to collapse or flatten the bending sides together. tributed as described for simultaneously pushing and drawingthe pipe through the guide rolls this tendency is lessened but I have provided additional means for preventing such result which are described as follows: Upon the end of they carriage track a horizontal lever L12 is pivoted to the tie plate L13 which is bolted to the channel beams 9 on the upper side thereon and to this lever a pair of parallel bars t' are pivoted on each side of its pivotal center equi-distant therefrom one of the ba of each )air bein" a l n placed above and the other below the lever.

Said bars extend forward to the plane of" In my machine with the forces disf Said rolls are of the shape del of attachment ofthe bars upon the lever.` vThe-rolls of each pair of bars are in vcontact l, and when placed in a .plane nearly transf verse with a cross section of the pipe determined by and .corresponding with the angle of the lever l2 in relation to the 's of the pipe, Will lillthe pipe, forced 'out-y wardly thereon with any degree of pressure required as regulated bythe position of `the said lever, Whenthe rolls are swung by means othelever to occupy planes more diagonal to the transverse section of the pipe they will be relieved. from Contact with the sides of the pipe and free thereof.

`Wlienthe rolls are so adjusted in such' ie Y lievedr position the pipe .may readily be slipped over them when being placed in position vin the machine, then after the pipe is in position the rollsinay be set out against .the Walls thereojtbyslight movement of the lever 42, and the Correspondingy action oic the parallel bars connecting .tliefrods with it. llln order to guard) against collapse oi' the pipe ahead of' thebending Lpointgany auxiliary `pair of rolls f1 are linked to `the ends of the parallel bars and rolls f by the links 4ld, and connected together by the klinks E and they are thus arranged to Vswingfrom the centers of the pair of rolls j at the ends of the bars, and freelyadaptthemselvestov the curvature of the pipe While at thelsame time filling the same similarly. tothe rolls f f, g.v As the axes of all these rolls are vertical their equatorial planes inipinge against and correspond to the lateral sides ofthev pipe, Which `is Jthe area upon yvihich the bending strain and displacement-ot the metal takes'place. The conical shape of the ends of the rolls renders it impossible for them to bel proportioned so as to lill the semi-circumference oi the pipe and a space or clearance thus results on the upper and lower sides of the pipe vvhich serves to receive the bars z" and links a. In saidspace which is at right 'angles to the bendingarea ofthe pipe they Walls of the vpipe have no tendency to collapseand no internal brace `or support is necessary to be employedlto prevent v.distortion at the point.; rlhis sys` teni of rolls provides a rictionlesscollapse ble internal torni or support which may readily be introduced f into or Withdrawn vfroinzthe pipes and adjusted with ease. In radditionto beingfree from friction against lthe pipe in bending this internal supporting vriage be so proportioned that the speed yot' Which sometimes vare very considerable and f render the use of an inflexible support impossible, either in placing the pipe inf posi'- tion or in bending: l l' i In the process 'of bendingpipe solid. rods or bars, the bending force is resolved into compression and tensile l strains respectively: upon the yinner and cuter sides ofy the curveV which 4strains upset or close the metalV on the inside and draw or stretch it uponthe outside. The closing` together 'of the inetalby crushing"` strain and'its attenuation by thetensile strain, are invariablyfound to be unequal in extent, forthe attenuation ofthe metal exceeds its compression and results in tl 'n- 'ning the Pip@ 0H the outer side of the curvature, 'and material 4damage to thefivork re'- sults,y especially in the case ot ybending pipe in the heated state( lt is extremely desirable to `pren-int tais result and the mechanism hereinbeiore described Will accomplish such purpose, if the gearing ,for transmitting theimotion Aof the pipe thrusting,` carriage to the lever or coni'f'erselytransmitting the motion ci the lever-to the thrust cartlie carriage Vshall slightly vexceed that ofthe lever, whereby there is a certain 'amount ot holding` backjonthe lever lend of the pipe, relatively to the .speed of the opposite end.

vSuch differential motion off-the lever and carriage can easilyv be effected by suitably porpoitioninp' lthe 'gear Q1 -with relation to'` the sprocket vWheel The eticct of lcssenf ing .the stretching ofthe metal on the outer side of theA pipeV Will be acconiplishedfto some extent by simply. 'pushing the pipe laheadand alloivingthe lever to move-around atthe same time Without beingactuatedby the motive forceJ the resistance thereof alone being sutlicient to produce the re'- quired result. l, therefore, do not limit the invention to the precise. mechanism shown for insuring'- differential/motion of the'lever andy carriage. y d It, of course, Will" be understood-that by illustrating; and describingy in detail the structure in- Which Ieinbodymy inventionl do not thereby limit the scopeof my inven- .tion onlyto an apparatus having` `,such .con-

struction because changes can be made vthat Would involve no departure from the principle of my invention. c v

Having thus described 'my'inven'tiom what and also` al j iio

l'. In bending` machinery, 'the-1 co'mbina- Vtion of a lever movable 'on a pivotal center,

a clamp or' holder carried by. the lever, a track or guide Way movable 'with respect vto the pivotal center of the lever foradgustment. at diierent distances therefrom atp' right angles to the. initial positionbf the iao lever, a` thrusting and holding` 'arriag'e guided on the track, means for guiding the article to be bent in its movement along the track, means for conjointly4 operatingr the lever and thrust carriage with differential movement and means for cooling' a heated article to be bent at the cross `plane Ibetween the. track and initial position of the leve-r.

2. in pipe bending mechanism, the combination oi a system of rolls supported within the pipe linked in` pairs in rolling contact and adapted to bear upon the WallS of the pipe on `the sides ot' the bending, pressure, the corresponding rolls of: the pairs boing` respectively coupled upon and conticlled by parallel tail rods projecting` from the unbent ends ot the pipe and bythe reciprocal movement 0f which the rolls may be swung into contact with the pipe or freed therefrom on the sides of the bending,1 `pressure.

3. lnpipe bending,l mechanism, the combination of two pairs of parallel tail rodsI` a series of rolls pivoted to each pair oi rods arranged in opposite pairs, links or bars comico-ing the pivotal centers of each pair, and comprising' a parallel motion, and mechanism connectingr the t-:Lil rods at `one end adapted for reciprocatingthe pairs of rods relatively to each other to` swing the pairs of rolls aro-und the common centers oit' their connecting links.

L1. ln pipe bending' mechanism, the combination` of two series of rolls, the rolls of each series connected together by parallel rods joining `their axes arranged in pairs with the rolls ofthe opposite series, and the rolls of each pair being' coupled together by connecting' links joining' their axes and mechanism connecting' the Systems of rods at one end adapted for reciprocating the rods relatively to each other and swinging the pairs ot' rolls around the common centers ot' their connecting' links.

5. In pipe bending mechanism, the combination` of two series of rolls, the rolls of each series connected together by parallel rods joining; their axes and arranged in pairs with the rolls ofthe opposite series,

and the rolls of each pair being' coupled together lby connectinglnks joining` their` axes, and a lever corresponding to the `transverse links, pivoted to the external ends of the tail rots and adapted through relative movement of the respective rods to move the transverse links at various angles to the walls of the tube to expand or contract the rolls with reference thereto by such inclination of the connecting line or the roll axes.

(i. in pipe bending mechanism, the combinat ion ot a pair of roll supporting frames adapted to be entered within the pipe to be bent, a plurality of rolls mounted upon ach of the roll i' ninos, arranged to conform to and bear upon the inside circumferential outline of the pipe, tail rods or connections from the roll i'i'amcs projecting from the pipe, and mechanism for settingthe rolls into contact with the walls of the pipe or relieving' them therefrom by relativo movement ol' the roll supporting` l'raiues through movement o-E the tail rods.

7. The combination oit a fixed girder or traine, a pipe guiding' track connected to the `ngirder transversely thereoii, a lever pivoted to the girder, a pipe grippingchnck carried by the lever. pipe bending' and guiding' rolls mounted on the girder corresponding in position to the chuck on the lever, a rack projecting' from the swinging end of the lever concentric therewith, `a driving'` pinion journaled in `the girdcr and interineshing' with its rack, a pipe thrustingd carriage niovably mounted upon the guiding' track, and motive means positively acting to conjointly move the carriage and to turn the driving' pinion whereby the pipe will be pulled through the pipe bending and guiding roll by the lever and conjointly pushed along` by the carriage, substantially as specified.

In; testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES ACTON MILLER.

Vitnesses: y

Fluten. Hnnnnn'r FAIRWEATHER, PHILIP GRIN MILLER.

Copies of this patent may `be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

